Colonial Avenue VWCC Project

Project Overview

Every day, 19,000 vehicles travel a section of Colonial Avenue near Virginia Western Community College. In order to minimize congestion in the corridor while ensuring accessibility and safety for pedestrians and cyclists, introducing more green space, and establishing better traffic flow.

Project improvements include:

Landscaped medians and crosswalks for pedestrians

Improved drainage

Improved signals

Roundabouts to improve vehicular throughput and slower speeds

Project Description:

The City is making improvements to street, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in the vicinity of the Murray Run Greenway, Fishburn Park Elementary School and Virginia Western Community College on Colonial Avenue from Overland Road to Winding Way Road. Improvements consist of drainage improvements, installation of inroad buffered bike lanes, addition of sidewalk to both sides of the street, improved pedestrian crossings, and intersection improvements at Overland Road, McNeil Road, and Winding Way Road. Intersection improvements include landscaped medians to reduce pedestrian crossing distances, improved signals, a roundabout to improve vehicular throughput, slow vehicular velocities, and improving bicycle and pedestrian circulation, and finally, improved crosswalks to provide heightened awareness and emphasis on pedestrians. Colonial Avenue between Winding Way Road and Overland Road does not have continuous public sidewalk, nor current bicycle facilities. This is an educational corridor lying immediately adjacent to elementary and middle schools, an aquatic center, and Virginia Western Community College. With the addition of two more proposed facilities, a STEM Building and a parking structure, VWCC will have invested more than $100 million in capital improvements along Colonial Avenue in the last decade. There is significant pedestrian activity in this corridor, but no public sidewalk or safe crossings for Colonial Avenue. This corridor is a high priority within the City of Roanoke.